Another modality that is controversial...

READ MORE HERE on Thermage

if it's a "Miracle"...

...then I want to try it!
There's a new tinted lotion called Miracle Skin Transformer. It was recently featured on Dr Oz as a replacement for those of us who spend a bit of time in the ahem...I mean...A.M. staging our applications: antioxidant, ((wait)), concealer, ((wait)), SPF, ((wait)), foundation and/or powder.
Only it looks like some of the folks who gave testimony on the website (also very new) are friends of the creator or somehow in 'relations'.
Prior to the full release this fall, you could order a trial but no longer.
My main concern was whether the product was non-comedogenic but emails (discovered after MUCH sleuthing!) have gone unanswered.
It would be nice to know what the main SPF ingredient is too since some of us are sensitive. But the ingredients are secret; who wants to give a way a miracle, right?
As of yet, there are no MUA product reviews on this.
Stay posted!

Epi what?

Several months ago, 3 to be exact, I asked my derm to "zap" (technical, huh?) some skin tags. She decided to freeze 'em with liquid Nitrogen instead. No muss, no fuss. Plus she could do some of the hyperplastic mole-looking things that weren't pigmented enough, or big enough, to remove and send off for testing (mandatory). I ended up looking like I had chicken pox. Now it just looks like I'm spotted. No more skin tags (the other things are still there) but in it's place are little dots of hyperpigmentation. Like 20 of 'em.
I complained. Twice. Now I'm trying an expensive prescription cream called Epiquin. It has a base of hydroquinone so you can't use it indefinately.
It's made by SkinMedica's companies.
Fingers crossed.
Decided to spot try it on some areas of facial melasma.

Seasonal changes - yes or no?

When the seasons change, does your skincare?

For me, and for the most part, no. I try to address skin issues as they come up and regardless of the season.
That being said, I think skincare products needs to be switched up now and then (like we do with our shampoos and conditioners), so "seasonally" sounds like a good time to change things up.

In the a.m. I mostly use La Roche Posay's Effaclar foaming gel cleanser on the Clarisonic but every few days I use Mario B's glycolic foaming face wash with or without Dermalogica's Microfoliant.
Then, it's the Co-Q10 toner by DHC and DHC's Vitamin C cream with spot zit treatment by Dermalogica or some natural zit stuff with sulfur I got at the health food store. (!)
Since I don't see the light of day, if I'm managing persistent zits on a particular day, I do not use my zinc-based sunscreen on my face- but I DO everywhere else.
If I don't use my "day" products and/or I'm going to be in a bit of sun (even a bit), I use SolBar's tinted sunscreen.

In the p.m., I mostly use Clean & Clear's antibacterial wash. It contains triclosan which is controversial. Whatever. [If I have heavy duty sunscreen, mineral based powder, mascara or the SolBar tint, I FIRST use an oil (yes) cleanser like the one from DHC. I've tried Dermalogica's but not Shiseido's.]
Afterwards, I put on the vitamin C if I didn't already during the day. Otherwise, I had been either spot treating for the zits and blackheads or using Micro Retin-A on the other nights. But now my doc wants me using a strong gylcolic or a retinol complex on alternating nights.
The reason for this: I complained that I think the Retin-A breaks me out. And apparently I'm not the only one, so I am hearing from folks out there...

I'm trying to be more diligent with the decolletage area! I'm also trying to be more consistent with body brushing. Did you read about that recently on at http://www.thefitchick.com/ ??


I haven't written in awhile because...(KNOCK KNOCK ON A BIG PIECE OF WOOD)...my skin has been less problematic. I figured if I talked about it, I'd jinx it!

I've also been dealing with some major hyperpigmentation as a result of a procedure at the derm's office. Let's talk about that next time!!

natural anti-bacterial ingredients...

...per Marie Clare's July 2010 issue:

sandalwood
aloe vera
red clay
rosemary
--perfect for your facials!

It's very soothing and good for you to use sea salt and baking soda in your bath tub. If, of course, you can't get yourself to the beach and swim in the wonderful ocean!
Salt "fights bacteria and inflammation and creates a negative ion environment."

Here are additional natural beautifiers:
grapefruit oil (purifier and astringent)
rosemary oil (circulation benefits)
cinnamon oil (also boosting circulation)
lemon oil ("ditto")

Been awhile...

But if you followed me from www.TheFitChick.com then you know I one-up-ed my yoga practice by taking yoga teacher certification last, and this, month.

I was a bit nervous about what would happen to my skin during this time; I'd be indulging in yoga practice all day with little time, if any some days, to shower & wash up. Remarkably, my skin faired well. Better than I expected. I was even told that I glowed.
Must be that yoga.

Must be something b/c the week I was done, I headed over to my derm's for a glycolic peel. 50%. (I go as high as 70%.) The results to my face area were pretty nice, I'd say. But I also had it done to my decolette and my neck. About 2 days later, if that, I started noting breakouts on my upper neck and underneath my jaw. Then it spread. Then it was just ridiculous.
I concentrated the Dermawand and also the Tanda light on this area. I "alcohol-ed" and peroxided. I used my regular zit zappers: sulfur, BP, tea tree oil...nothing.
And that's what worked-nothing. Or I should say, nothing worked.

My sebaceous cysts on my face (like a pore turned inside out) were zapped and burned by my PS a few months back. The pinkish areas have healed and resolved and unfortunately, the bumps are still there.

Right now I'm using my LRP face wash most mornings except for 2x/week when I use MB Glycolic foaming wash. At night and post-workout, I use Clean & Clear which does have "triclosan" as its anti-bacterial, anti-zit remedy. There is a controversy regarding its use...

Well, that didn't last...

I went back to Micro Retin-A, 0.1% only I did it on 1/2 of my face and MaMa lotion on the other 1/2. I didn't notice any appreciable differences in texture or clarity (both sides still breaking out) but the Retin-A side was peeling. Not a good idea to do during the summer.

So, I decided to stick withVit C as a go-to lotion as it doesn't cause any negative effects...AND...back to BP for the acne. I haven't used BP in years. I gave it up b/c I didn't think it was helping much (plus the sun sensitivity that lead to skin discoloration and the bleaching that led to pillowcase discoloration wasn't fun).

I'm starting to think that skin reacts like hair to some treatment products; after awhile, they lose their effectiveness.

Time to change it up.

I'm happy with SolBar's and Kinerase's sunscreens but I'm going to try Mario Badescu. I have NOT been applying SPF to my face everyday but I *should*.

want 2 try

Skincare Rx sent an email regarding a discount for the EPIONCE product line.

Here's a little blurb:

^ oops-I'll fix that soon, chicks.

The key ingredient being: AZELAIC ACID

What caused me to perk up went something like this: "blahblahblah anti-bacterial blah anti-inflammatory blahblahblah aging, blahblahblah blemish prone..."

They were speaking, or typing, my language!

I've tried their MaMa lotion (the original version) with "M's" acids so it's certainly not outside of my reach to try another acid but let's look at this a little closer.

The reviews for their entire product line were glowing. The reviews on the MUA site were glowing.

Apparently "azelaic acid" is the key ingredient in a product called Finacea that everyone raves about (-yes, something I actually have NOT tried. Yet.)

It's also present in Metrogel.

ugly pore "things" that won't go away...

They're called sebaceous hyperplasias. They're benign but they're UGLY.

It's a type of 'cyst' in which the pore basically turns inside out on itself. So not only is the pore larger than the surrounding skin, but the texture is not smooth. Picture a teeny tiny cauliflower of a pore. Bumpy, etc.

Peels don't do it.
Sometimes cauterization doesn't do it.

How do I know? I have 'em! Four to be exact. I have 2 on my forehead (supposedly the most common location), 1 on the side/temple, and 1 on my cheek!

I have heard of a few people having excellent results through the laser cauterization. I don't know what type of device or frequency is being used. So if this is something that you are plagued with, don't hesitate to try having a doctor remove them.

What happens is the tiny point of the device burns the pore until the layers of the skin come off. (ouchy, but worth it...) When the skin layers heal, the skin should have healed over and even texture result.

Today was the day...

Injection day!



Now it's back to flaxseed and an occasional aspirin or Advil.



First we reviewed the results of my IPL 2+ weeks ago. Verdict? "Yay" for the face and an "eh" for the chest area. I didn't get the outcome we expected so he thinks he needed to go higher (on the setting); something he was afraid to do at the time b/c I immediately developed welts that looked like hives. (Thankfully, non-painful...but I'm a tough cookie!)



I wanted to try Juve around the marionette lines again; it had been over 1 1/2 years with good results. It's been 7-8mos since I got the Juve in the upper cheek and TT's (tear troughs) and (we) felt that I could use a bit more.

And it was time for Botox. (Which I try to do less than once a year...)



Two weeks ago I went off all potential blood thinning agents which includes some vitamins and herbs. I'd planned take some arnica montana this a.m. but well...I realized I forgot it when I was in yoga and had already left the house. The last time I'd abstained for only a week before and the bruising and oozing was immediate! I've also heard horror stories about PS recovery so they advised me to go off everything at least 2 weeks prior and I did.



We did not use a topical numbing agent prior.

We did use little pre-cut frozen sponges afterwards.

He ended up using 36 cc of Botox and 2 (!!) full syringes of the Juvederm.



So far, so good. I'm happy with the results. Of course, it'll take awhile for the Botox to kick in and also for the Juvederm to accumulate "water" and become a bit more distended.



If you plan to have this done:

• * Stop all Advil, aspirin, Flaxseed, omega 3's, fish oil, etc. Maybe even some high potency Vit C's


• * Keep your head elevated in an upright sitting posture for at least 4hrs afterwards. No bending forward at your computer or laptop.


• * Work out that morning and do not do any exercising for a full 24 hrs.


• * Don't rub your face


• * Do any lasers or peel work before not after.

My Skin Needs Its Walking Papers

Walking Papers is the title of a new book by Francesco Clark due in stores this summer. He was a former magazine editor, paralyzed by a night-time dive into a shallow pool years ago. Confined to a wheelchair with limited mobility, he was also distraught about the health of his skin which had gone crazy with texture and clogged pores, etc.

Since his dad was a naturopath, he drew upon his knowledge and medical prowess to develop products that would help him b/c nothing else seemed to give him results.

He found, what was for him, the HG*

Hence, Clark's Botanicals was born.

www.clarksbotanicals.com

I'm TOTALLY intrigued. If you get your hands on this stuff, please let me know your thoughts!

*HG=Holy grail, Best ever, as in "This is my holy grail of cleansers."

Do you use makeup as in foundation?

And if so, what brand?

And if not, why

I'm intrigued by this new product...then again, I'm intrigued by MOST new skin products. READ HERE.

I do not regularly use foundation. I haven't found one that is my "HG". Usually it is hard to use foundation WITH antioxidant or anti-acne products.

I previously used Prescriptives, but stopped. This was before the cosmetic company went defunct.

I previously used Jane Iredale (powder). I stopped for the same reasons cited above.

I mostly use a bit of undereye concealer and Dermalogica's tinted spot concealer. For special events during the day, I use SolBar's tinted sunscreen and at night, whatever mineral make-up (powder) is around and recent.

skin tags

Do you have skin tags?

I seem to get them on the lower neck and the areas around the bra line. Makes sense b/c it is said that they tend to accumulate on areas that get rubbed/friction.

Another school of thought is that they're tied to digestion. And genetics, of course, play a part.

Here's a link to an article on removing them: READ MORE

I've tried the freezing off method, cutting off method and simply letting the Derm "zap" them. Obviously the most successful and easiest process was letting the doctor handle it during a routine visit. The issues arise when she doesn't exactly get the "mark" and it has to be re-done. And, the cost.

Insert :-(

Not having a good skincare day. Started right before the weekend. Lots of little whiteheads in areas where there were previously NONE. Nothing new to the routine...EXCEPT I went back to using the Fenix sunscreen. And I did have several particularly sweaty yoga workouts. Always something.

Today, I will go back to prepping and using the Dermawand. And try NOT to pick.

How's your routine going?

picture of "perfect skin" - question mark...

June is....

NATIONAL ACNE AWARENESS MONTH

new laser for acne??

CLICK HERE

Hmm...I thought the "blue light" was a) considered a laser and b) is for acne.

Must. Do. More. Research.

Welcome to our new home!

I'm obsessed with skincare (or skin "care"). If it can be ingested, injected or applied topically, I've probably done it.

I have yet to find “the” thing that makes my skin, or me, happy.

And by happy I mean- clear.

And by clear I mean, no eruptions and smooth texture. Some days are better than others which is why this is entitled “Good Skin Bad Skin…” and I plan to post my routine & “status” to figure out what the offender(s) is.

“Red Skin…” is for my zits.

“Blue Skin…” refers to my undereye area.